ICE is a federal entity, operating in an unconstitutional manner and with cruelty as its motivating principle. It was created in haste after 9/11 without proper oversight and functions now with fear and cruelty as its motivating principles. When local law enforcement gets involved with ICE, they no longer are serving the community, but abdicating authority to the federal government and becoming part of evil, inhumane practices. This is not how our communities are kept safe -- this is how we are told to live in fear and distrust our neighbors.

We learned a crucial lesson after 2016, that US voter data was processed abroad by a defense contractor based in the United Kingdom. The British authorities declared that had Cambridge Analytica not abruptly ceased operations, it would have been fined and prosecuted for committing mass data abuse under UK law which prohibits political profiling without consent and data rights. We reject the notion that it is acceptable for campaigns to employ international vendors. We further reject the notion that it is appropriate for entities that also contract with militaries should be able to also work on political campaigns. This did not happen before 2016 and it should never happen again. We demand the right to know about our data, who is collecting it, how it is being processed, used, and shared. We demand to know if it includes inferences made about us and it attempts to predict our behaviors and beliefs. All corporations, organizations, political parties and campaigns must be required to disclose our data to us when we request it. There must be criminal penalties for corporate officers who refuse to comply with disclosure orders. Companies must not be able to use bankruptcy law to evade accountability for data crimes. We demand the right to refuse that our data be collected, processed, and stored. We must not be penalized for taking our data back from those that seek to harvest it. Data privacy cannot become a new luxury for only those that can afford it. We demand that lawmakers stand up to the powerful lobbies that aggressively work to weaken laws that seek to protect and limit the use of data. We demand that the industry lobby stand down and let us be granted true data rights. Industries that profit from our data owe it to our democracy that sustains their businesses. It is time for them to allow their business models to be disrupted by the necessity to grant all residents of the USA the essential data rights to sustain election integrity. All 200 million registered voters in the US were victims of mass data abuse that was used to weaponize political media against individual voters without their knowledge or consent. We must confront the new powers of political technology and algorithmic social media to diminish the integrity of free and fair elections. The same tools used to sell ski vacations and skin creams are being used to let candidates chose their voters while finding other voters than can be dissuaded from voting. Disinformation can be untraceable because tech platforms and advertising networks grant maximum privacy to advertisers and minimal privacy to voters. Democracy is not assured without fundamental data rights.

Paired with our unparalleled natural resources, our picturesque communities offer Mainers’ powerful economic growth tools. Our built environment is recognized as an incredibly rich resource that has not yet been deeply tapped to deliver value. These two bills provide a powerful tool for local economic and community revitalization, supporting governmental bodies, nonprofit organizations, and citizens in their mission to rehabilitate and preserve historic buildings. Our historic buildings are not only important to our cultural heritage, they are a valuable investment in our future. Buildings benefiting from these funds will be substantive drivers of activity in their communities. Rehabilitated and preserved buildings: --generate revenue from property and sales taxes; --create jobs, strengthening the local and state economies, --foster a strong sense of place that tourists love (tourism is our #1 economic driver) and locals need to maintain and deepen their ties to their neighbors and their community; --maximize conservation efforts by recycling buildings; -- provide attractive public spaces for citizens to meet, do business, and recreate; and --serve as a generational bridge to the history of our state; they articulate the story we tell about ourselves.

Sexually exploiting underage girls is a heinous crime that should not be protected by political affiliation. Epstein should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Blessings, Russel Renny Harris was convicted of conspiracy, murder, a sale and possession of controlled substances and sentenced to 48 and one-third years to life. Sadly, on December 16, 1991, on Beekman Avenue in the Bronx people lost their lives in a brutal senseless attack. Renny has already served 26 years and some months making him eligible for clemency or pardon. Renny used his time during incarceration to better himself, serving as a mentor to younger incarcerated individuals. He has maintained an above average academic, work and disciplinary history which shows his maturation. Those who have visited, corresponded and speak to him have seen, read and heard his growth. Petitioning for clemency would serve as another vehicle by which to obtain his freedom. Clemency or pardon is most commonly available to permit a judgment of conviction to set aside where there is overwhelming and convincing proof of evidence not available at time of conviction. There is nothing compelling the Honorable Governor Kathy Hochul to grant clemency to an actually innocent defendant. Hopefully, with the past and continued support of his devoted and loving family as well as friends, the Honorable Governor Kathy Hochul will see Russel Harris has a chance to productively, successfully and positively integrate himself back into his community and society.

In Lane County, the Point-in-Time report showed we had a 44% increase in the total number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. On the night of the count, more than 2,000 people lacked housing and adequate standards of living. Homelessness leads to other human rights violations among the most vulnerable. Women face violence and sexual abuse. Persons who are rendered homeless are challenged to survive. There are thousands of people living in their vehicles and outdoors in our community. We need policies that do not ignore this reality but instead take actions that address this crisis immediately. Some of the immediate areas a housing and homeless state of emergency declaration can address, which would help make the TAC report implementation possible are: expanding safe and legal parking places for individuals and families living in RVs or other vehicles; developing year-round campgrounds; permitting alternative shelter options that allow people to stay with their pets, partners and possessions; initiating a temporary moratorium on the conversion of affordable housing into other uses; expediting permitting and siting for building more affordable housing units; facilitating more mobile-home park and Single Room Occupancy buildings (SROs); and putting vacant buildings, such as the Armory, into service for winter and extreme weather events. An emergency declaration could help streamline government procedures in order to act more quickly and utilize our community resources more effectively. Please move this forward to help eliminate the systemic barriers to equitable treatment and address this escalating human rights crisis that is homelessness in Lane County.

In Lane County, the Point-in-Time report showed we had a 44% increase in the total number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. On the night of the count, more than 2,000 people lacked housing and adequate standards of living. Homelessness leads to other human rights violations among the most vulnerable. Women face violence and sexual abuse. Persons who are rendered homeless are challenged to survive. There are thousands of people living in their vehicles and outdoors in our community. We need policies that do not ignore this reality but instead take actions that address this crisis immediately. Some of the immediate areas a housing and homeless state of emergency declaration can address, which would help make the TAC report implementation possible are: expanding safe and legal parking places for individuals and families living in RVs or other vehicles; developing year-round campgrounds; permitting alternative shelter options that allow people to stay with their pets, partners and possessions; initiating a temporary moratorium on the conversion of affordable housing into other uses; expediting permitting and siting for building more affordable housing units; facilitating more mobile-home park and Single Room Occupancy buildings (SROs); and putting vacant buildings, such as the Armory, into service for winter and extreme weather events. An emergency declaration could help streamline government procedures in order to act more quickly and utilize our community resources more effectively. Please move this forward to help eliminate the systemic barriers to equitable treatment and address this escalating human rights crisis that is homelessness in Lane County.

Donald Trump and his administration are determined to undermine and politicize the 2020 Census with a dangerous question on citizenship status. Last month, the Supreme Court suspended the administration’s ability to add this citizenship question to the survey, rejecting their reason for including it as “contrived” -- but Trump and his team are relentlessly trying to add it anyway. Such a question is estimated to dissuade more than 6.5 million people from filling out the 2020 Census. The Census is constitutionally required to count every person living in the United States. And that mission is at risk -- if the Census doesn’t get proper funding and manpower, or if Trump’s team is successful in coming up with a new way to add an intimidating citizenship question. If either happens, we risk a severe “undercount” -- cutting millions out of political representation and jeopardizing the very foundation of our democracy. The 2020 Census will shape our nation’s government, public policy, and budgets for an entire decade. The data we gather determines everything from congressional district maps to local resource allocation -- like school funding, the number of firehouses in our neighborhoods, and highway and road repair budgets. People of color -- particularly Black and Latinx communities in both urban and rural areas -- are at an especially high risk of being undercounted by an underfunded or unfair Census. This would deprive countless people in the U.S. of resources, political representation, and the right to a democracy that truly represents all of us. We can’t let that happen. Add your name and tell lawmakers in your state to make sure the 2020 Census is conducted fairly and fully funded.

The Equal Rights Amendment is long overdue for ratification. It is the cornerstone for improving our civic and cultural environment and for building a more perfect union. I feel that passing the ERA in NC will help to restore the dignity and integrity of our citizens that our state deserves.

"The number of honey bee hives in the U.S. dropped from 6 million in 1947 to just 2.4 million in 2008, with 2018 being the worst year on record for hive loss." A large part of the honey bee declines can be attributed to increased use of pesticides for agricultural crops. Sulfoxaflor is a bee-killing pesticide that was banned in 2015 because it was killing so many bees. We depend on honey bees to pollinate our crops and to provide a great deal of the food on tables across America. The EPA is supposed to protect the health of our environment. We ask that you reverse your decision to allow the use of this bee-killing pesticide immediately.

As longtime champions of the rights of and justice for victims of sexual assault, we hope to ensure that the retired, but repeatedly recalled, Judge Troiano is never again allowed the opportunity to protect an alleged socially advantaged rapist from the consequences of his intentional and intimate harm to another, or to question the motives of the victim on the basis of the Judge's personal admiration for the perpetrator’s wealth, position, and assisted academic standing. Judge Troiano, in a decision that is shocking in its misconceptions about rape, power and trauma, disregarded objective legal analysis and sought to protect the perpetrator from the severity of his actions, trivializing the perpetrator’s conduct, questioning the motives of the victim in reporting, and justifying it all with the observation that the perpetrator “came from a good family” and therefore should not be held to adult standards for the adult crime of rape. NOT ONCE AT ANY POINT DID THE JUDGE EXPRESS ANY CONCERN ABOUT THE DEVASTATING EFFECT THE RAPE HAD AND WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE ON THE VICTIM’S LIFE. In having the courage to seek criminal charges against this predator, the victim likely saved other young women from the same treatment throughout the remainder of this perpetrator’s life. It has long been known that those who assault without consequence tend to do so repeatedly. We are reassured by the Appellate Division’s strong language rebuking Judge Troiano’s treatment of the victim, the facts, and the law before him in this case. At the same time, we are mindful that the victim endured not just the rape and the aftermath, but the period during which it appeared that the perpetrator was more credible to and valued by New Jersey’s justice system than her fundamental right to privacy, to bodily integrity and to due process of law. To deliver justice to the victim, we urge you to sign this petition to the Committee on Judicial Conduct to request that Judge Troiano be immediately removed from the bench.

This ordinance was created during the course of one meeting with no public feedback. Public feedback was not provided as the document sent to adjoining neighbors did not provide the correct location. Little or no consideration has been given to the fact that this is a resort area which harbors vehicular and pedestrian traffic for the beaches in the area. Traffic is already straining the existing infrastructure. There are no contiguous sidewalks. No consideration has been given to the fact that 'double tracking' or decreasing the time for local train traffic to/from Chicago will likely increase Michigan City's population substantially. The current Lakeside Townhomes plan allows all traffic to/from only one street (Felton Street), while a normal 10 unit subdivision has traffic moving in four directions. Opening a second traffic flow (to Blaine Street for example) would help decrease traffic pressure on Felton Street. The following is In direct reference to Ordinance 4509 as quoted: Section B:"the requested change in zoning...will not have an adverse effect on surrounding land." Not true, these duplexes will overload current vehicular and pedestrian traffic as well as infrastructure. Section C: "requested change in zoning will not be injurious or detrimental to surrounding property values". This ordinance will put 10 units in an area which usually provides for 5 smaller homes. These lots are already small compared to the rest of Michigan City. We feel that our property values will decrease due to overpopulation. We feel that single family homes are a much better fit to the neighborhood and would be an asset to existing residences. As there is a substantial amount of undeveloped property in the area, this project would be setting a negative precedence of overcrowding. Under D: "requested change will promote orderly and responsible community growth and development and will not adversely affect the community....." Not true for reasons previously mentioned. Under F: "the change in zoning is not "spot zoning" which will confer a special benefit on a relatively small tract without commensurate benefit to the community." This is spot zoning, as there are very few duplexed residences in the community. This does not provide commensurate benefit to the community due to overcrowding and all access/egress moving through one street. We are not adverse to positive change in our community. Single family developments are welcomed here.